CipSoft is one of the most successful game studios from Germany. With their new MMO Persist Online, they are attempting a premiere that lasts only 90 seconds in the game, but has occupied them for almost half a year.
What are these 90 seconds? Early on, Persist Online welcomes new players with a stylish in-game sequence that introduces the zombie setting of the MMORPG and prepares them for the upcoming adventure. The automatically running film lasts 90 seconds. In a conversation with MeinMMO, CipSoft CEO Ben Zuckerer reveals:
This is the first time we have done this in this way as a studio. And to spoil how long it takes to get this 1 minute and 30 seconds long clip at the beginning… it has taken nearly 6 months of work time.
During the conversation, Ben further explains what all goes into these 90 seconds:
- You need an external partner, have to export the models, provide the textures and the storyboard
- Then the clip is played live by people to check if the scenes turn out as desired
- Only then does the actual rendering process begin, during which each frame of the scene is built, and of course, each individual frame must be carefully checked to avoid errors
For the relatively small game studio from Regensburg, this is an enormous effort that shows how important their new MMO is to the creators of Tibia.
A Million Per Minute
What are other studios reporting? The really big names in the industry regularly share comparable anecdotes when it comes to creating elaborate in-game sequences or CGI trailers. In an interview with IGN Nordic in March 2017, Jeff Chamberlain, then VFX Supervisor at Blizzard, explained that it would take 6 to 8 months to go from the first storyboard to the final frame of an Overwatch short film.
Other Blizzard developers have reported similar experiences in interviews regarding the elaborate cinematic sequences for World of Warcraft.
With such timeframes, it is not surprising that the costs for multi-minute sequences quickly reach several million US dollars. The in-game sequences of Halo 2 Anniversary, implemented by the CGI specialists at Blur, are reported to contain around 50 minutes of material and have cost an estimated 25 to 50 million US dollars (discussed among others here on Reddit and here on Reddit).
What do I need to know about Persist Online? Behind Persist Online is the new online role-playing game from the creators of Tibia, which throws you into a hand-designed, urban zombie apocalypse and focuses on third-person action, survival, crafting, and guild battles over specific zones. In the course of the Grindfest theme week 2026, we played it and talked with the developers about the MMO. You can find all the important information here: Creators of Tibia show us their new zombie MMORPG, which could be just right for grind fans
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